Absorbed and Absolved
by Maiika
Summary: A life of crime paid - but not well enough. When a slimy acquaintance approached her and Lapis with a well-paying job offer, Lazuli couldn't refuse, in spite of the risks. With a stiff hired hand, cops, and a mass murderer on their trail, fulfilling this job wasn't going to be easy. Meanwhile, Krillin knew where he fit in this mix, but he didn't have to like it.


With the people on the streets running through the rain and crying about the mass power outage, you'd think it was the apocalypse. Lazuli didn't mind the outage. If she needed power, she'd get power. The only thing really inconveniencing her about this weather was the havoc the torrential downpour was wreaking on what _was_ her silky straight hair.

After she skipped past a few more losers begging for change and slowing down her progress out of the rain, Lazuli was relieved to see the familiar sight of her unlit, busted front door. The building was a dump, but living in a city block like this one kept them inconspicuous. At least, that's what her brother said. Lazuli thought they could live in a better place without bringing any unwanted attention on themselves. She figured it was time they started moving up in the world.

When she shoved her way through the front door, Lazuli was prepared to find her brother waiting for her with a TV dinner, surrounded by clothes thrown around the apartment and piled dishes in the kitchen sink. She loved her twin, but the guy was no domestic.

"Lapis," she called into the darkness as she wiped her boots on the front mat. She grimaced at her boots' mud stains, as well as the feeling of moisture soaking through her socks.

"In here."

Lazuli wrung her hair out and shrugged off her wet denim jacket, placing it on the flimsy metal coat rack before turning to the living room. When her eyes landed on the two faces looking back at her from the couches, she stopped short in the doorway.

Lapis gave a curt wave. "Hey, Sis."

"What's _he_ doing here?"

"Existing," Lapis said before smirking at the surly old man. "For now."

As Lazuli crossed her arms and narrowed her eyes, Dr. Gero sneered. "Good to see you two haven't lost your sense of humor."

"Who said I was joking?" Lapis said.

Dr. Gero turned his gaze on Lazuli. "Why don't you dry off and make yourself comfortable so we can discuss this offer I have for you, my dear."

"I won't be comfortable until _you're_ out of our apartment," Lazuli said as she planted her back against the door frame. "So start talking."

With a groan, the old man pulled at his white whiskers. He looked displeased. The feeling was mutual. Dr. Gero showing up was never a good sign. This could be the perfect ending to Lazuli's shitty day.

Gero looked to Lapis (as if _he_ would give the miserable old man any better reception) before giving up on the pleasantries with a sneer. Gero leaned forward and tore something from his jacket pocket, tossing it atop the piled papers on the coffee table. It was a photo of a man. The first thing about him that caught Lazuli's attention was the crazy disarray of his black hair. She was wondering what kind of hick would let his hair run wild like that before she processed the features of his handsome face.

"Plain and simple," Dr. Gero said. "I want him dead."

"Oh," Lapis deadpanned. "Is _that_ all?"

Gero scowled at Lapis. "I'm offering payment, of course."

Lazuli raised her chin. "How much?"

With a sigh, Gero met Lazuli's gaze. His eyes flitted to Lapis, who pressed his hands together and waited. Gero pursed his lips. "Five thousand."

"Fuck you, old man," Lapis said.

"For you two, this should be easy. Five thousand is generous for a quick job."

Lazuli narrowed her eyes. "Do you think we're stupid? You wouldn't come to us for just anyone."

"Who even _is_ this guy?" Lapis asked, pointing at the photo. "Even from this shoulders-up shot, I can tell he's built."

Lazuli nodded. "Probably knows how to fight. What's his background?"

Gero growled, baring his teeth as his squinty eyes averted to the rain-coated living room window. "He's ex-decorated military. I couldn't touch him when he was active. After he retired, he disappeared. I've been searching for the bastard for years and finally found him."

Lapis exchanged a glance with Lazuli before raising a brow at Gero. "What's he doing now?"

"He's retired in the mountains with his family. Has a farm, it seems."

Lapis rubbed his chin. "A farmer, huh?"

"For a military man," Lazuli said, " _fifty_ thousand sounds like a fair price. Killing the wife and kid would cost you extra."

"I don't care what you do to the wife and kid and I'm not paying for them. Just him." Gero wrung his fingers into his wrinkled slacks and growled. "Thirty thousand. And I'm sending one of my boys with you."

Lapis chuckled. "What?"

Gero cast them both a wry grin. "You think I trust you two to do as I ask? At this pay rate, you'll probably take the half I give you and run off with it without even lifting a finger for me."

Lazuli exchanged another look with her brother, finding herself unable to suppress the smirk brought on by Gero's observation. He wasn't wrong. The third wheel would be a nuisance, but the full thirty thousand was strongly tempting over the fifteen thousand. Still, Gero could do better than that.

"Forty thousand," Lapis said, "and we'll do it."

"Got the twenty thousand up front?" Lazuli said, extending her hand.

Dr. Gero clasped his hands together in his lap. "No one can associate my name with this kill. I have business investments to protect. You two need to make this clean."

"Easier said than done," Lapis said. "Can't promise anything with your guy along for the job."

"My man won't do anything to screw this up, trust me," Gero growled. "It's you two I'm worried about."

"If anyone gets in our way?" Lazuli asked.

"Do what you want with them," Gero said. "As long as it doesn't become public knowledge that I sent you. I know you two can do this right. It's a matter of you _choosing_ to."

"Well," Lazuli said with a grin. "The second twenty thou is pretty motivating."

"Speaking of which," Lapis said. He held out his palm. His fingers beckoned.

Gero stood from the couch with a tired scoff, reaching into his jacket pocket. He withdrew a Manila file with print on the tab and dropped it on the table. When he withdrew a stack of bills and placed it in Lapis' hand, Lazuli smiled. Just thinking of everything that money could do for her and her brother washed away all the shit she'd experienced earlier in the day.

"You two are so capable," Dr. Gero said with a scowl. "It's a shame you choose to waste your talents like this. You could always come back and work for me."

"We prefer to work for ourselves, Old man," Lapis said, fanning out the billfold in his hand. "It's been working out pretty well."

"Has it now?" Dr. Gero said. "I hear you two might have some trouble on your hands."

Lazuli's eyes narrowed. "Nothing we can't handle."

"We've got it under control," Lapis said as he pocketed their money.

"Good. Then I trust you'll have this done soon," Gero said. "I've waited long enough for my vengeance on the man who tore apart my operation and nearly destroyed my career."

Lazuli smiled. "We'll get right on it."

"I think we've seen enough of you for tonight, Dr. Gero," Lapis said before shooing the doctor toward the door. "Goodnight. And thanks for the twenty-thou."

Gero padded reluctantly to the door and sent a glare over his shoulder. "Just don't forget what it's for. I have _means_ of collecting your debt if it comes to that."

"Collecting our debt?" Lapis scoffed. "Okay."

Lazuli opened the door and invited the doctor out with a gesture. "Goodbye."

When the door slammed, Lazuli was relieved. She had things to discuss with her brother that the doctor couldn't hear. Though given their conversation, it seemed he was hinting at knowing more about this matter than he should. The imposing creep might've been harmless on his own, but he had far too many powerful connections. Lazuli slammed the door closed on the doctor's back as well as the roar of the continuing downpour.

"What happened on _your_ end?" Lazuli asked as she crossed her arms and turned to her brother.

"Gohan tried to get the jump on me at The Cave." Lapis smirked. "Didn't know I was ready for him."

Lazuli returned the smirk. "Trunks actually tried to _arrest_ me before I slipped out. Morons."

"Gohan won't be a problem anymore," Lapis said as he turned to the kitchen. "I put him out of commission."

"You mean-"

"Beer?"

"Sure."

"He's not dead," Lapis said. "Just in the hospital. Probably crippled for life."

"Shame," Lazuli said as she followed her brother around the corner and caught the beer can flying toward her. "And I was just starting to like the guy."

Lazuli turned to the sofa, letting the cold condensation of the beer can chill her palms as she rolled it in her grasp. She settled down in her creaking chair before kicking her feet up on the coffee table. As she waited for her brother to join her, she tilted her head and gazed down the long line of her shapely legs. She admired the fashionable details of her new leather boots regaining their original red color after being darkened maroon by the rain.

"Nice boots," Lapis said as he plopped into the opposing sofa and swung his arm over the back.

"Thanks. They were a steal."

"Think Trunks has _that_ on record?"

Lazuli rolled her eyes. "They haven't bugged our apartment."

"But we've gotta do something about Trunks. With his partner shot down, you know he's only going to get _more_ relentless."

"Ugh." Lazuli sneered. "What a pain."

"Can't get that job done for Gero with him in our way."

Lazuli popped open the tab on her beer before tilting her head back and taking a healthy swig of the frothy drink. She sighed appreciatively as she set her gaze straight ahead. Beneath her heel was the photo and file left by Dr. Gero. They'd done jobs for Gero in the past, but never anything of this magnitude. As she rolled her heel to the side, Lazuli scanned the pictured face looking back at her. His dark eyes were hidden beneath black bangs; the wide smile he wore wouldn't be there if he knew what had just been decided about him. She was looking at the face of a man who didn't have long to live.

"This guy," Lazuli said with a nod toward the photo, "lives out in the mountains, Gero said."

Her brother hummed, sipped his beer, and nodded. "We're going to need a car."

"Looks like tomorrow we'll be getting one, then."

"Think Trunks will get in our way?" Lapis sounded amused.

"He knows we know. With his partner out of the picture, he'd have to be the lamest undercover cop to come after us head-on at this point."

Lapis raised his brows and pressed his beer to his lips again. "You never know."

Lazuli slowly turned her head in her brother's direction. "What'd you make for dinner, Lapis?"

"Power went out before I got around to it."

Lazuli huffed. Pursing her lips, she turned her gaze on the dark kitchen. The rain outside was slowing to a drizzle as it grew darker outside. She'd cook when the power returned. For now, she could enjoy her beer in the dark as she suppressed the fears that might arise about the coming days. Even with Gohan and Trunks temporarily out of their way, the cops were hot on their trail. She dreaded the arrival of Gero's man who would be joining them on this big job. Somehow, she suspected Dr. Gero's threats regarding them not following through on this task were not (unlike most things about Dr. Gero) to be ignored.

Failingto kill this guy would be a mistake.

"It's going to be fine."

Krillin frowned at Goku, raising his hand to peer at his taller friend's face through the rays of the blazing sun. "I don't know, Goku. This type of stuff doesn't come as easy for me as it does for you."

Krillin paused to watch his friend load crates of fresh crops into the rear of his tractor. The wide expanse of brown, rain-soaked field surrounding them was all freshly tilled. To Krillin's surprise, Goku seemed to be keeping up with his farm work.

"What are you talkin' about, Krillin? You're goin' to be a great cop." Goku bent over to heave his last batch of crop into the tractor. Then he looked at Krillin. "You're just startin' off with traffic stops and stuff like that, right?"

With a smile, Krillin crossed his arms. "Yeah, stuff like that."

Goku always had a way of making Krillin feel better about these things. It was like nothing was a big deal to him. Whenever Krillin looked at things his friend's way, he saw a lot less of what was bothering him than before.

"Still," Krillin said. "There was another murder in Gingertown last night. That has me kind of nervous. I'd feel better about starting this job if I knew _you_ were joining up with me."

Goku laughed. "Sounds fun. But you know after all those years of Chi-Chi wanting me to retire from the service, she'd kill me if I went running back into the line of danger now."

Krillin frowned and lowered his head. His friend was right, of course. Goku had run into danger too many times, spent too much time deployed, for his wife and kid to greet the idea of him joining the force with any positivity. Krillin hummed. He, on the other hand, was in a much different situation. At _Krillin's_ home, there would be no worried and angry wife or child, regardless of what he did. Just a washed-up old roommate. When Krillin looked up, Goku was smiling at him. He had that look in his eyes.

"Eh," Goku said. "I'll think about it."

"Goku, forget I said anything. The last thing I need is to start my first day on the streets on your wife's shit list."

"I guess you're right, Krillin," Goku said as he slung his arm over Krillin's shoulder. "Sometimes being an adult is just no fun."

Krillin chuckled. "We're definitely not kids any more. I thought I'd be long married by this age, at least before _you_."

Goku looked in the direction of his house, as if Krillin's comment prompted a reminder. Goku's faraway gaze was a rare sight for Krillin to witness, but it brought a smile to his lips nonetheless. It wasn't too late for him. Maybe one day, he'd have his own house with a nice family to look forward to going home to every day as well. As long as he didn't get himself killed on the job first.

"I'd better get going," Krillin said with a nod toward his car. "I'm supposed to get a call at home this afternoon with details of my first assignment."

"Okay!" Goku smiled broadly and gave a curt wave. "Good luck tomorrow, Krillin!"

Krillin smiled over his shoulder. "I'll call you and let you know how my first day went."

By the time Krillin pulled in his driveway, the sun was setting behind the clouds, creating a technicolored landscape in the sky. Krillin stepped out to the sounds of waves crashing against the shore of his backyard and breathed in the warm salt air. His home was tiny, not ideal by any means, but he couldn't deny that it was a comfortable place to return.

He stepped through the front door before kicking off his shoes in the entryway. Krillin dropped his keys at the side table, right beside the glass tank filled with water, rocks and greenery.

"Hey, Turtle," Krillin said to the tank's inhabitant.

Krillin reached in to move a shred of lettuce that had fallen, feeling pleased when Turtle moved toward it. The little guy looked happy to see him.

"Krillin, you're back."

"Hi, Master Roshi."

Krillin turned to the old man seated on a pillow on the ground. Master Roshi was eating in front of the television again. As usual, the old man had selected his favorite aerobics course program, not that he ever used it for its intended purpose.

"Dinner's warm in the microwave," Master Roshi said, "if you want some."

"Thanks."

Krillin skirted around the kitchen entryway. He reached into the microwave, going through the motions on autopilot. His food was lukewarm, but it would have to do. He was too anxious to eat much anyway. He wanted to listen to his machine for messages and prepare for the big day tomorrow. Hopefully he would start off small with an assignment that didn't involve the murder cases he'd heard about recently. He'd joined the force hoping to put his martial arts skills to good use and hopefully get noticed by the right people. Not to get killed by a psychopath before he ever had the chance to do any of that.

"Looking forward to work tomorrow, Krillin?"

Krillin froze with his bowl of stir-fry perched in his hand, a bead of sweat trailing down his forehead. He couldn't open that discussion. If he discussed his fears with Master Roshi like he was thinking about doing, Krillin was worried he'd talk himself out of the job. Succeeding at this was something he had to do. His friends couldn't be the only successful people in his life. It was time for Krillin to step up and join their ranks.

"I'm actually a little tired, Master Roshi," Krillin said. "I'm going to eat in my room so I can be up bright and early for duty." Krillin turned for the stairs, but halted at the knowing hum of Master Roshi's voice.

"All right. You sleep well, Krillin." Master Roshi nodded his head slowly when Krillin turned around. Even though the old man was wearing dark tinted sunglasses, Krillin could feel his wise eyes boring into Krillin. "In case I don't see you before you head off in the morning, I want to wish you luck on your first day."

Krillin's gaze softened as a bit of the tension he'd been harboring drained from his body. "Thanks, Master Roshi. I'll do my best."

After Krillin reached his room, ate his meal and retrieved his messages, his subdued anxiety started rising again. There had only been one message on his machine. It was a cryptic recording left by his captain, telling him a plain-clothed officer would be by in the morning to fill him in. On what sort of assignment, he didn't know. But after years of seniority as a martial artist, the reality of starting at the ground floor again as a rookie cop weighed on him.

Tomorrow was going to be a big day.

Krillin hardly slept a wink.


End file.
